Return to Gravity Falls
by SockMcMuffin
Summary: Two years later, Dipper and Mabel return to Gravity Falls but what strange things will they encounter.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The bus hit a bump in the road and Dipper woke up suddenly. His twin sister Mabel was resting her head on his shoulder wearing her favorite shooting star sweater, he could hear her tiny snoring. Waddles, Mabel's pet pig, had grown so much over the years and lay fast asleep on the seat across from them. Other than the bus driver, they were the only people (and pig) on the bus.

Dipper couldn't believe that after two years they were finally returning to the town that he fell in love with, Gravity Falls.

Everyday he thought about that place and the people in it; Grunkle Stan, Ford, Soos, Candy & Grenda, Robbie, Old Man McGucket, Gideon and Wendy. Oh Wendy, Dipper thought about her the most, her sweet long red hair and flannel shirt. Dipper was wearing her hat right now!

Then there was Bill…

Dipper and Mabel, along with the help of many others, managed to defeat Bill Cipher, the one-eyed triangle freak who nearly destroyed all of Gravity Falls. Now he's a stone statue somewhere in the forest but Dipper still got shivers down his back when he thinks about Bill.

"Gravity Falls

27 miles"

Dipper was literally counting down the seconds until the bus stopped. The bus turned a corner and there Dipper saw all his friends and family from Gravity falls and they all saw him.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The bus stopped with a sudden jolt. Outside Dipper could see his friends and family. Almost everyone he knew in Gravity falls was there, well everyone he cared about really. Grunkle Stan and Ford were there, Mabel's friends Candy and Grenda and there was Soos and his girlfriend Melody.

Mabel woke up slowly, rubbing her eyes with her sleeve. "Are we there yet?" she asked sleepily. "Yes. Come on, get up, lets go!" urged Dipper.

All three of them (Waddles included) exited the bus. Both Dipper and Mabel ran up to Grunkle Stan and gave him a hug. "Great, now I'm stuck with you two knuckle heads for another summer" he said in his usual grumpy voice. Mabel spotted Candy and Grenda and ran up to them screaming. "I missed you girls so much" she said.

Dipper laughed at Mabel's over-excitement at her two friends and turned around to say hello to Soos. "Hey hambone" said Soos. Dipper gave Soos one of those ' _bro hugs_ ' that bro's give to each other. "You remember Melody, Dipper" said Soos.

"Nice to see you again" Dipper said politely.

"You too" she replied.

"Hey there Dipper" said Ford. "You ready for another summer filled with mystery and adventure?"

"Absolutely!" said Dipper excitedly. Spending time with Ford was one part of visiting Gravity Falls that Dipper was looking forward to the most, that and Wendy.

"May I talk to for a second, Dipper?" asked Ford much more serious this time.

"Sure"

Ford led Dipper a little bit away from the group but not too far away. "Do you remember when Bill Cipher took over Gravity Falls and how he burnt all three journals?" Dipper nodded his head; he could remember it like it was yesterday. Bill had just taken over Gravity Falls and re-named it 'Weirdmageddon'. Before Ford could tell Dipper the secret to destroying Bill, that stupid triangle managed to grab a hold of Ford and turned him into gold. Dipper tried to fight back but Cipher knocked him down and took hold of the journals. All Dipper could do was watch as Bill burnt them to ash.

"I remember" said Dipper.

"Well I forgot to mention this to you but I had all the information backed up on my computer and managed to re-write the journals. Stanley and I have also been exploring the world, searching for strange and mysterious anomalies. I met a lot more strange creatures than we have here in Gravity falls and I wrote two more journals"

Dipper's head was overwhelmed with excitement. He had read journal #3 too many times to count and had read journals 1 and 2 at least once each. Now he had even more mysterious anomalies to read through and explore and he could re-read all his favorites again!

"That's amazing!" he said.

"I knew you would like that," said Ford with a grin on his face "But that's not the surprise. Knowing that I may not have much long left to live I thought why not give the journals to you. I mean if you want them that is, you seem willing enough to go on all these supernatural adventures right?"

"I would love to have the journals. Thank you Grunkle Ford" said Dipper.

"I knew you would say that. I left them for you upstairs in the Mystery Shack"

Dipper couldn't stop thanking Ford enough but there was just one thing missing, Wendy. "Surely," Dipper thought to himself "Surely she would of come to welcome Dipper and Mabel back after two years of not seeing them.

"Grunkle Stan" started Dipper "Where is Wendy?"

Stan hesitated for a second. "Um, uh, she's working today and, eh, couldn't make it. Sorry kiddo" Stan flashed a smile and returned talking to Mabel. There was something about the way Stan said 'Wendy couldn't come' that made Dipper unsure but it also made him wonder.

"What if she really couldn't make it?" it left a sad empty feeling in his heart.

Dipper reassured himself that he would be able to catch up with Wendy soon. He had the whole summer to visit her. Things this summer were going to be great.

 **Sorry chapter 1 was a bit short. I promise all future chapters will be longer.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 _~Mindscape~_

 _Bill paced back and forth across the room. He was weak and he needed time to regenerate, for two years he had been! He was almost done, almost time._

" _What are you up to Bill?" asked Stan suspiciously. "You're pacing around a lot more than usual. It better not involve my niece and nephew!"_

" _Silly old man. You have no idea what's in store for you…"_

" _Hey! I've put up with you in my mind for almost two years now. I've been forced to listen to the nonsense you speak and the psychotic plans you talk about. I've watched you grow stronger and stronger every day! I know what you're like Bill"_

 _Bill laughed one of his menacing laughs then spoke in his deep, demon-like voice, "You have no idea what I'm capable of"_

 _Stan relaxed back into his chair with a wide grin on his face. "Maybe but I know the secret to defeating you"_

" _By the time I'm done regenerating," started Bill "There won't be a way to defeat me"_

As soon as Dipper got back to the Mystery Shack he ran straight upstairs into the attic. Sure enough he found all five journals waiting for him on his all-ready-made bed. He laid his suitcase next to his feet and sat down, right next to his journals. They were all stacked up on top of each other with #1 on the very top. "What great mysterious creatures will I find in here?" he asked himself. He picked up journal #1 in his hands, he so badly wanted to read it but he had the rest of forever to read them all. There were more important things in life right now like catching up with his family and friends. He also wanted to spend time with Wendy. Maybe they could throw pinecones off the roof or go back to Dusk 2 Dawn and re-awaken the ghosts.

Dipper's stomach did a triple flip inside of him, a very odd sensation. Wendy would be 17 this year. What if she no longer wanted to hang out with Dipper? What if she no longer was the Wendy he once knew two years ago? What if she'd changed?

Dipper really didn't want to think about that stuff right now. He put the journal back down just as Mabel came into the room.

"Hey Dipper" she said gleefully.

"Where's Candy and Grenda?" he asked

"They had to go back home but we promised we'd visit each other sometime this week"

Mabel's eyes spotted the journals sitting on Dipper's bed. "I don't remember there being _that_ many journals," she said. "Didn't Bill burn them all?"

"He did," said Dipper. " But Grunkle Ford re-wrote them with all the information he had backed up on his computer. Ford also wrote another two journals from when him and Grunkle Stan went away exploring the world for anomalies"

Dipper picked up journals 4 and 5. "Look," he said to Mabel, pointing at the front covers. "It has the six fingers and everything!" Dipper's head was filled with excitement, he screamed with joy.

Mabel opened up her suitcase and started putting some of her posters up. "Dipper, you're acting like me when I met the boys from Sev'ral Timez. Absolutely fan girl crazy"

"That's not even the best part," continued Dipper, paying little attention to what Mabel had just said. "Grunkle Ford said I could keep them, _forever…_ "

Mabel finished putting up the last of her posters. "Dipper you've gone bonkers mad over those journals. It's like television, it will rot your brains out"

"Like yourself?" said Dipper jokingly.

"Absolutely. I'm going to go feed Waddles some Smile Dip," she said. Holding up a packet in her hand.

"Wasn't that stuff banned in America?" asked Dipper curiously.

"Yeah but I took some from the convenience store and kept it for two years, just incase of an emergency" she said with a wide grin on her face.

"Didn't you say it was evil?"

"It taste so good…" said Mabel with already half the packet in her mouth. She finished off the first one and pulled out another from inside her suitcase.

"See you later Dipper" she said. With smile dip in hand, Mabel skipped the entire way downstairs leaving Dipper alone with the journals.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Dipper woke up lying on his back. He had stayed up all night reading the journals. There were so many new creatures and tons of new codes to crack. Dipper didn't really want to wake up but once he was awake there was no going back.

Dipper rolled onto his side facing Mabel but Mabel wasn't there. "She must have already woken up" he thought to himself.

Dipper got dressed, grabbed Wendy's hat and headed downstairs. He could already smell breakfast being cooked.

Dipper sat down on a stool near the kitchen table. Stan was cooking pancakes as a 'welcome back' treat for Dipper and Mabel.

Stan plopped the pancake onto Dipper's plate.

"It's shaped as a pine tree, for you kiddo!" he said ruffling Dipper's head.

Dipper stared down at his plate and crinkled up his nose. It wasn't shaped as a pine tree, it didn't even look like a pancake?! It looked more like deformed dinosaur.

"Thanks Grunkle Stan…" he said forcing a smile.

Mabel came into the room carrying an empty plate with Waddles right behind her. "Good, I'm starving" said Grunkle Stan eyeing Waddles.

"Grunkle Stan! I thought we discussed that Waddles is not for eating! He's part of the family!" screamed Mabel.

Angry at Stan's behavior, Mabel took Waddles in her arms and marched out of the room.

"Sheesh!" said Stan rolling his eyes.

Ford then came into the room talking to Abuelita, Soos' grandmother. He was carrying a jar, which what looked like jam inside.

Ford walked over to a cupboard and pulled out two slices of bread. He then sat down at the table and started spreading the jam on the bread.

"'Ow 'ave 'ose bernals been goin" said Ford between mouthfuls.

"They're amazing," said Dipper able to understand Ford's gibberish talk. "I really liked how you added some extra notes to journals 1, 2 and 3".

"Don't read too much into them," said Stan. "You'll end up being as crazy as six fingers over here" Ford eyed Stan suspiciously before continuing to eat his jam sandwich.

Stan smiled at his brother then suddenly; he clutched his forehead with one hand moaning in pain.

Dipper got up from his seat and rushed over to assist his Uncle. "Grunkle Stan are you ok!" he asked.

"Yeah I'm fine, just got a headache. Why don't you go and help Mr. Mystery over there do up his tie" Stan said pointing over to where Soos was.

Ford got up and helped Stan sit back down in his seat so that Dipper could go help Soos. He was standing in front of the mirror near the front door trying to do up his tie. "Let me help you there Soos" Dipper asked politely. "Thanks dude. I've been getting my grandmother to do it up for me but recently she's been saying I need to learn how to do it by myself. I- It's really hard dude" said Soos embarrassed by his lack of skills.

"There!" said Dipper finishing up the tie. "You look great"

"Thanks bro". Soos turned back around facing the mirror adjusting the fez on his head. "Hey Dipper, can I give you some advice?" asked Soos with a smile on his face.

"Sure" said Dipper. Soos' smile disappeared and he grabbed Dipper by the shoulders.

" Watch out for Stan. I've been noticing something strange about him, everyone has! The way the talks, how he acts, it just seems different and slightly odd." Soos saw the shocked look on Dipper's face and realised his grip on Dipper's shoulders was too hard. He loosened his grip and said, "Just be cautious around him that's all I'm saying.

Soos walked away towards the gift shop ready to greet the tourists.

~Evening~

"Mabel, do you think Stan's been acting a bit weird lately?" asked Dipper.

Mabel sat on her bed swinging her legs back and forth. She was already in her pyjamas unlike Dipper who was still wearing his day clothes.

"Stan's always acting weird. He's one of the weirdest people I know" she said cheerfully.

"No I mean like has he been acting different, maybe even a bit…odd?"

Mabel looked at him suspiciously. "What are you playing at Dipper?" she asked.

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed it too" he said

"Stan's weird," she started "But not _that_ weird! People change Dipper and Stan's old"

Mabel laid down on her bed and pulled the blanket up to her chest. "Goodnight Dipper" she said.

"Goodnight" he said turning off the light. He rolled over onto his side facing the wall. "Maybe Mabel's right," Dipper thought to himself "Stan is pretty old" but then Dipper remembered what Soos had said at the start of the day and how serious he was. "Soos loves Stan like a father" He thought to himself "With him saying something like that there's got to be something wrong". Dipper didn't want to think about it for much longer; he was already confused as it is. He closed his eyes and fell asleep dreaming about redheads.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Dipper sat in Stan's yellow armchair with Mabel lying on the floor. They were watching an episode of Duck-tective.

"We've already seen this one" moaned Dipper for about the one-hundredth time.

"Quiet!" yelled Mabel. She was getting sick of Dipper's constant complaints. They were both waiting for Ford. He said he had something to show them before racing off down into the basement, he's been down there for thirty minutes.

Ford burst into the living room with a bunch of high-tech fancy equipment on. He wore his usual tan coat and red turtleneck, on both hands he had leather gloves made to fit his six fingers, he had a belt around his waist with a bunch of fancy tools and what appeared to be some sort of gun slung around his back. Dipper and Mabel stared in awe at how awesome their Uncle looked right now.

Ford held up a drawing of some weird monster.

"Dipper, do you know who this is?" he asked, flashing a smile.

Dipper recognised the creature but forgot where he had seen it. The creature was small, white and pale with pink eyes, almost cute looking. Below the sketch of the creature Ford had written ' _Experiment #210'_.

Mabel got up quickly and ran over to Ford. Accidently knocking over Dipper, she stared at the piece of paper with a shocked look on her face.

"It's the Shape Shifter!" she said pointing at the drawing. "Oh yeah" said Dipper, now coming to his senses.

"Wow" said Ford "Dipper I thought you would of recongnised this creature easily but looks like your sister has beaten you to it"

"I don't remember it being _that_ small" he said. When Mabel, Wendy, Soos and himself fought it two years ago it was a lot bigger and looked a lot less cute then it did in the picture right before him.

"No, no, no. This is a sketch I took of it when I first found it, as an egg. I drew its appearance into the third journal right as it started to hatch. When you told me that you had fought it I found it extremely unbelievable that you were able to take on something as strong as it is now!" he said in astonishment.

Dipper took out journal #3 from inside his vest (it was starting to get real hard carrying all five journals with him) and flipped to the page with 'Cryogenic Tube' as the title. On it were two drawings of the Shape Shifter, one from when it was just hatching and another (as a silhouette) from when it had grown a bit bigger. Dipper skimmed over all of Ford's notes. ' _Watch your fingers!'_ and _'DNA constantly changes'_ were written near the drawing of it hatching. ' _DO NOT LET IT OUT!'_ and _'IT'S PLAYING TRICKS ON ME'_ were written near the other as well as ' _Form #6'._

"Form #6? You mean that wasn't its original form?" asked Dipper

"As you may know it can change it's form at will so there is no way to tell if it's real or not" replied Ford.

Ford crumpled up the piece of paper and shoved it into his coat, as did Dipper with the journal.

"I want to go see if it's still alive" said Ford "How would you two like to come with me"

"Yeah!" said Mabel and Dipper together.

"Great," he said. Ford stared down at Mabel and Dipper with a look of concern on his face. "You guys might want to take some things…" he said looking at Mabel's rainbow sweater and Dipper's skinny arms.

When they were all prepared and ready they headed out towards the front door. Mabel had her grappling hook in one arm and a packet of gummy koalas in the other. Dipper didn't know what to bring so he just brought along Stan's old baseball bat.

"You two all ready?" asked Ford. Mabel and Dipper both nodded their heads in agreement.

"Don't get into too much trouble" said Stan from inside the kitchen. He was sitting down at the kitchen table with an icepack held to his head. He winced as his head throbbed with pain. All of three of them waved at Stan and Stan waved back, forcing a smile.

"Do you think Stan's going to be ok by himself?" asked Mabel as the three of them walked out into the forest.

"He'll be fine and besides he's not really alone, he has Soos and Soos's grandmother to look after him," replied Dipper. "Stan's just old remember"

Dipper looked around at the trees surrounding him. It had been a long time since he'd been in there making it a bit scary. Dipper could tell Mabel was feeling the same thing. They walked further and further into the forest. Ford, always slightly ahead of Mabel and Dipper, was following directions towards his bunker that he had written down on a map. He kept muttering pointless things to himself that always reminded him that he was walking in the right direction.

"Bird nest towards the left... Yes, yes. Black mushrooms on the right… All good yes." He whispered to himself. You could tell it had been a long time since Ford had visited the bunker.

Eventually they came across a clearing with a single tree in the middle. Dipper and Mabel recognised this tree from when they first visited the bunker and had come face-to-face with the Shape Shifter. "Grunkle Ford what exactly are we going to be doing with the Shape Shifter? Other than checking to see if it's still alive" asked Dipper.

"May I borrow that sweetie?" asked Ford pointing at Mabel's grappling hook. "What was that Dipper?" he asked whilst fiddling around with the hook.

"I said what are we going to be doing with the Shape Shifter?" yelled Dipper as he watched his Uncle ascend from the ground high up into the tree holding onto the grappling hook tightly. The hook wrapped itself around one of the highest branches with Ford hanging just above the lowest branch that wasn't even a branch at all, it was a lever. Ford kicked at the ' _branch_ ' and watched as the ground below slowly submerged itself down a couple of feet. Stairs appeared from the inside of the ground, leading all the way down to the bottom. A door also appeared in the trunk of the tree.

Ford slowly landed firmly on the ground, releasing the grappling hook from its hold on the branch above. He gave the hook back to Mabel and turned towards Dipper.

"We're here to see if it is still down there. If it's dead or not there we will go back up and maybe try looking for it. If it is still down there and alive then I would like to extract something from it that might be important for future purposes" he said. "I also want to get a few things of mine that I left down there thirty or so years ago"

They walked down the old wooden steps until they reached the bottom. Ford, Mabel and Dipper stood in front of the entrance to Ford's bunker. "Shall we go in?" said Ford gesturing towards the entrance. Dipper and Mabel both nodded their heads and together, the three of them stepped inside.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The bunker was damp and dusty. It smelt of wet soil and rotten meat and it made Dipper gag. Ford was off looking at a bunch of weapons and canned meat, exploring the inside of his bunker he hadn't visited in over thirty years.

"Do you two know where to go?" Ford asked, looking in Dipper and Mabel's direction. Dipper couldn't quite remember but Mabel seemed to know every corner of this place. She walked over to one side of the room where a map of Gravity Falls hanged up. She moved the map to the side with her arm, revealing a secret tunnel. Mabel smiled up at Dipper and Ford "Ta-da!" she said.

All three of them crawled through the tunnel. Ford was ahead of Dipper and Mabel was behind her brother. The tunnel wasn't that big and Dipper kept bumping his head on the metal roof so did Ford being a lot bigger than he was. Eventually the tunnel stopped. Ford pushed open a hatch where he could see a small, rusty, grey room that looked like it was made up of a bunch of small cubes. Some cubes had weird mystic symbols on them, some didn't. There were cobwebs hanging in the corners of the room as well and it had an unpleasant smell to it. The three of them stepped out of the tunnel, Dipper limbs felts all weird from being so close together and he stretched his body out. Ford walked around the cube room and stepped on a symbol intentionally. The hatch slammed shut and ever so slowly some of the cubes started to cave in but Ford didn't seem worried at all. He flashed a smile and laughed, remembering the days of being down in his bunker. Dipper, also remembering that time in the bunker, pulled out Journal #3 and flipped to the page that had the same mystic symbols on it. Dipper pulled out a small black light torch (he always kept one with him at all times after the zombie incident) and shined it on the page. Four symbols were circled in invisible ink. "Mabel! Press these symbols!" said Dipper anxiously but Mabel hadn't heard him and neither had Ford. An entrance had appeared on one side of the cube room and Mabel and Ford had already walked through it. Dipper put the journal back and ran to the exit as the cubes were closing in on him fast.

They were in another grey room, a lot smaller than the cube room and this one had a bunch of buttons and panels and stuff and a single window. Dipper took a moment to catch his breath; he was really confused about what had just happened. "Mabel you are on fire today!" said Ford. "I know, I am on a roll!" she said throwing both her hands in the air and doing a happy little jig at the same time. Dipper soon wrapped his head around what had just happened; Mabel remembered what the symbols were from two years back and together her and Ford pressed the symbols and escaped through the cube room leaving poor Dipper behind. Dipper felt a teensy bit of jealousy, the thought that Mabel was going to become Ford's new apprentice and not him gave him that bit of jealousy. Dipper remembered the last time he felt like this and all the trouble it has caused, he didn't want it to become like that again so he did the mature thing and brushed it off.

The trio walked around the small room and tons of memories of being down here came flooding through all of their minds. Ford's smile was getting wider and wider and you could tell he was having the time of his life. He kept on recognising certain objects that obviously belonged to him.

Dipper walked over to the window and took a good look inside. In there he could see a bunch of wires and pipes along the floor and a bunch of fancy sciency tubes. These were obviously the Cryogenic Tubes that Dipper had read about in Journal #3.

"Do you guys know how to get into the other room?" said Ford pointing to the window. Dipper nodded his head and walked over to a small cubicle on one side of the room and stepped inside with the door shutting behind him. "You know what to do, Dipper?" asked Ford from the other side.

"Yes!" yelled Dipper from inside his little cubicle. It was small and dark and he couldn't really see that well. He held his arms out, fumbling his fingers around, trying to grab hold of something. At last he felt some sort of rope, or string, and pulled down on it. Some sort of liquid sprayed down on him, soaking him to the bone. When it had stopped spraying water (or whatever that was) a gust of wind blew over him and pushed Dipper to the other side of the cubicle, which hurt since it wasn't that big. When it was all over an exit appeared and Dipper stepped out of the cubicle but he was no longer in the small grey room with buttons and panels and stuff. He was in the other room with the Cryogenic Tubes.

Dipper walked over to where the window was and saw Ford on the other side. Ford smiled at Dipper and stuck two thumbs up. "Mabel's coming through right now" he said. Through the window, Dipper could see the door to the decontamination cubicle open up. "See you on the other side Dipper" said Ford. Ford walked away from the window and hopped into the cubicle.

Mabel stood behind Dipper waiting for Ford to come out. "Hey Dipper" she said. Her voice echoed around the room. Dipper turned around to face her "Don't do that Mabel! The Shape Shifter might have heard you!" he said. "Relax," said Mabel "He's right over there" She pointed towards the Cryogenic Tubes; one of them was in use. They walked over towards the one that was on; Dipper placed one hand against the glass. It was cold and his hand left a giant mark. "Hey look! It's you!" said Mabel. Dipper took a better look inside the tube and sure enough he saw himself, screaming. Dipper now remembered, two years ago, when they froze the Shape Shifter. The last form the Shape Shifter took, before he was frozen, was Dipper. The Shape Shifter said that this would be the last form Dipper would take.

Ford walked over towards Mabel and Dipper, he was even more wet than the two of them combined. "Dipper is that you?" asked Ford, staring down at the other Dipper with a look of confusion on his face. "The Shape Shifter turned into Dipper before we froze him" said Mabel. "Well if I'm going to be able to get what I need, we're going to have unfreeze him" said Ford. He turned around and walked back into grey room with the buttons and panels and stuff. Ford sat down in a chair. There were a lot of random buttons and knobs and scrap pieces of paper lying around. Ford pushed the button that unfroze the Cryogenic Tube. He then went back out to where the twins were standing. "It's going to take a while before he awakens so we might as well take the time to look around" he said.

Mabel walked around the room, well it wasn't really a _room_ it was more like a giant dug out. There were mushrooms here and there and random puddles that were bigger then they seemed. There were also a lot of tunnels along the edge of the dug out and tree roots hanging from the ceiling. Mabel and Dipper stood in front of one of the tunnels; it was ten times the size of Dipper and seemed to wound on and on. "Hey Dipper, do you think a mole dug this?" said Mabel jokingly. "Get real," he said "It was probably the Shape Shifter otherwise it would've had to been a pretty big mole" Dipper's footsteps echoed along the tunnel, he held Stan's baseball bat in front of him as he trudged along the dirt floor. "Here, take this" said Mabel, handing him a flashlight. "Thanks" he said.

Dipper shined the torch ahead of him and rested the bat on his shoulders. He could see worms squirming in and out of the ground and there were also other tunnels leading off from their one. "Lets not get lost ok" said Dipper. Mabel nodded her head and pulled out her packet of gummy koalas. "Want one?" she asked Dipper, shoving the bag in his face. "No thanks, I'm on a diet" said Dipper feeling proud of himself. "Really? I remember seeing you eating cake last night" said Mabel. "Well… um… I'm on a… cake… diet" Dipper grabbed the packet out of Mabel's hands and shoved a fistful of koalas in his mouth.

As the twins walked further into the tunnel, Dipper couldn't help but get the feeling that he was being watched. He turned around to look at Mabel to see if she was feeling the same but she wasn't, she was just optimistic as ever. Dipper stopped walking for a second, Mabel walked right into him. "Hey! Why'd you stop bro?" she asked, rubbing her forehead from where the bat had hit her. "Sshh!" he said. The ground started to tremble slightly and if Dipper hadn't been so worried about being watched the trembling would if gone on unnoticed. A small pool of water laid right near his feet and he could even see the water started to shake. Dipper turned the flashlight off so that the two of them were in total darkness. The two didn't make a sound and the only sound Dipper could hear were Mabel's short quick breaths and the trembling, which was getting louder and louder and they could both feel it vibrating under their feet. The trembling soon sounded more like digging and it sounded like whoever was digging was getting closer towards Mabel and Dipper. The sound ringed in their ears but they didn't move or run away and even though they couldn't see anything and weren't even sure where the digging was coming from, it felt like it was coming from right in front of them. The digging stopped but the sound was replaced with something else. Loud and weird, it sounded like some huge dog sniffing around in front of the two. Dipper flicked the flashlight on and the two of them came face to face with about twenty tentacles squirming around in their faces.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Dipper flicked the flashlight on and the two of them came face to face with about twenty tentacles, all squiggling around right in front of them. The ground had stopped shaking and all the worms on the surface had gone back under. Mabel and Dipper stared at the mysterious creature, not saying a word to each other.

The two of them stepped back as the creature moved forward and dirty claws appeared down below its tentacles, it looked less like an enormous octopus. A worm poked its head out from one side of the tunnel and the creature had noticed it. Below its tentacles was a mouth and it slurped at the worm. Dipper shone the flashlight just above its tentacles. It screeched and suddenly ran forward, its claws digging at the dirt making room for the rest of its body. Mabel and Dipper turned around and made a run for it. Dipper kept the flashlight on so they could see where they're going but the creature didn't like it, it seemed to make it even angrier and it charged faster at them. A light came from up ahead and they knew that the tunnel was coming to the end.

The duo climbed out of the tunnel, they were back in the dirt dug out with the Cryogenic Tubes. Ford was nowhere to be seen and even though the creature was a few metres behind them, it was getting closer and closer.

Mabel and Dipper ran into the grey room with a bunch of buttons and panels and stuff and shut the door to the decontamination room. Ford was in the room with them, sitting down at the desk overlooking all the fancy buttons. "What did you two do?" he asked. Mabel was having a hard time catching her breath so Dipper spoke for the both of them. "We were exploring the tunnels and this giant octopus thing with claws came after us!" He too was having a hard time catching his breath and was having trouble explaining to Ford what they saw. He pointed towards the Cryogenic Tube room "It's in there right now!" Ford stood up straight away and his facial expression had 'worried' written all over it.

"Is that a bad thing?" asked Dipper as he followed his Uncle into the decontamination room with Mabel following behind them, pulling out the gummy koalas from inside her sweater. With all three of them crammed inside, Ford then explained what the worried look was for. "The Shape Shifter hasn't finished defrosting yet, but it is close. The creature could destroy the tube with those powerful claws and set the Shape Shifter free, which is something we don't want. I still haven't gotten what I need yet and I'm worried that this creature is going to ruin everything!"

They exited the small cubicle and stood staring at the creature. It had calmed down a bit and was now off admiring certain areas of the dug out. "Be very quiet" whispered Ford, putting one finger up to his mouth. They snuck around the edge of the dug out, trying not to draw too much attention. Now that Dipper could see the creature clearly he realised that this was not some octopus monster, it was a mole! A star-nosed mole to be exact, which would explain the ' _tentacles'_ on its snout. This was definitely not your average mole, it was huge and big and every sound it made echoed around the dug out with a loud _thump!_

Ford looked at Dipper with a confused face. This was not how he described the ' _monster_ ' and it almost made Ford laugh that this was just your average garden mole but why it was so big? It did seem odd. Of course by now Ford was used to everything being _odd_. He turned to look at Mabel and Dipper. "We need a plan," he began "I need to extract what I need from the Shape Shifter, once we do that we have to lead the mole away back down to the tunnels so that it won't accidently let loose the Shape Shifter. Don't forget we have to freeze him again once it's all over" The twins nodded in agreement. Dipper felt like some sort of secret agent on a secret mission, it did feel a bit childish pretending he was one but living with Mabel will do that to you. Ford looked at Dipper, pointing to Stan's baseball bat "Keep that close in case anything bad happens" Dipper nodded his head and smiled at him, Ford smiled back and the group continued making their way towards the Cryogenic Tubes.

The Shape Shifter had already defrosted and had changed from being Dipper to going back to its normal self. He seemed pretty chill… that was until he saw Dipper. "Dipper pines," He said laughing, his deep voice echoed all around. "Never thought I would see you again" He then stopped looking at Dipper and stared at Ford. "Ah, old friend, we meet again at last" In a whirl of black wispiness, he shifted into Ford and pressed his hand up against the glass except this version of Ford only had five fingers. "Oh, my bad," An extra finger popped up next to the rest of them. "Is that better?" he asked smiling. He laughed loudly, maybe even too loudly as the mole had heard him and got angry. It was running straight at them. Ford quickly glanced at Dipper "You and Mabel take care of the mole while I deal with him" he said, he spoke so fast Dipper could only make out a few words but Mabel and himself knew what Ford wanted. Dipper held the bat close next to his forehead with a firm grip around the handle. Mabel had the grappling hook ready. The two of them ran off and lead the animal a little bit away from Ford so he could get going with his work.

Ford bent down on one knee and pulled out a shiny metal case from inside his tan coat. He opened the case and there laid two syringes. On the glass wall of the tube was a small door. Ford opened the tiny hatch and stuck the syringe into the Shape Shifter's arm. He expected him to lash out or reject the needle but he didn't, he just stood there and let Ford do his work.

Meanwhile, Dipper and Mabel were battling the giant mole. At first they were reluctant to hit it, all they wanted to do was lure it away but then things got tricky. Dipper held the baseball bat in front of him. The mole was running straight at him. Dipper swung the bat when it got too close and the mole moved back. He kept swinging and the mole kept moving. Mabel was hanging from the roof, clinging tightly onto the grappling hook. She had this plan of dropping down on top of it like some sort of surprise attack. Dipper swung the bat again but the mole just knocked it away with its claws and started sprinting in another direction.

Ford pulled back at the plunger and red liquid filled up the syringe. He pulled it out and closed the tiny door but before he could the Shape Shifter grabbed hold onto his arm. "Be careful with what you do with that, I sense a dark presence" He stared at Ford with his beady pink eyes. Ford stared at him back "I know" he said. He pulled his arm away and shut the tiny door. Ford put the metal case back into his coat and froze the Shape Shifter inside the Cryogenic Tube. He walked off with syringe in hand, completely forgetting there was a giant star-nosed mole in the same room.

Dipper's quick thinking skills kicked in. He looked up at Mabel who looked down at him; they both nodded their heads as if they knew exactly what the other was thinking (Twin ESP!). Dipper threw the bat at Mabel; she caught it and dropped down onto the mole. It didn't seem to notice but it still kept running around. She lifted the bat high behind her head and swung down hard onto the mole, smacking it right on the top of its noggin. It collapsed and fell to the ground. Mabel fell to the dirt floor too, she moaned as she got up but got over it quickly. "You alright?" Dipper asked, rushing towards her. "I'm fine, did you see what I did though!" Mabel jumped around laughing. Dipper laughed with her "C'mon, lets go see if Ford's ready to go" The two of them walked back into the room with a bunch of buttons and panels and stuff.

When the pair walked inside, Ford was peering outside the window, staring at the mole. "I didn't ask you to _kill_ it" he said, "Oh but we didn't," said Mabel "We just knocked it out, did you see what I did though!" she said excitedly. "It was very impressive Mabel, you and your brother" he smiled and held up the vial containing the Shape Shifter's blood "I got all my work done" he said happily, "What's it for?" asked Dipper. "Uh, I don't think I'm ready to tell you guys yet but you'll find out soon enough. Are we all ready to go?" The two nodded their heads and all three of them made their way towards the exit of the bunker, leaving the Shape Shifter, the mole and any other undiscovered creatures down there.

"Do you think the mole will accidently set the Shape Shifter free?" asked Mabel to Dipper as they walked through the security room with all the mystic symbols. "Nah, I reckon the mole would wake up all calmed down. The Shape Shifter's frozen so it can't get out by itself either… Wait! Ford are you _sure_ you froze the Shape Shifter?" asked Dipper. Ford laughed, "For the hundredth time Dipper, I'm positive I froze him".

As they walked back through the forest, headed towards the Mystery Shack, Dipper just couldn't stop thinking about Wendy. He was upset that she hadn't come visit them yet but thinking about her always made him happy. "Mabel, do you know why Wendy hasn't come seen us yet?" he asked. Mabel stopped walking and stared at Dipper, she looked sad "Stan didn't tell you did he?" she said sadly, "Tell me what?" he asked. Mabel looked down at the ground sheepishly, "Mabel, tell me!" he said sternly. She ran up to her brother and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm so sorry Dipper," she said "Wendy's moved away". It took a while for Dipper's brain to comprehend what Mabel had just said. At first he thought he hadn't heard her right, he wanted to _believe_ he hadn't heard her right but every bone in his body knew exactly what she had said. Mabel's arms were still wrapped around him. Dipper didn't know what to do; he didn't know what to say! Luckily Ford was a few metres ahead of the twins so he couldn't hear Dipper's heart shatter into a million pieces. "I'm sorry Dipper" she said again. Dipper finally hugged his sister back, he hugged her tightly and they stayed like that for a while… or until Ford had noticed that he had walked a couple hundred steps by himself.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

 _~Mindscape~_

 _Stanley watched the demon triangle walk around the Mystery Shack of his mind. "What's it going to be today Bill? Ping Pong across the table? Throwing darts at an old photo of Ford?" He laid back in his armchair while the yellow Dorito chip pace back and forth, which he'd been doing quite a lot of lately. Bill laughed menacingly "Not today old man! How about something a bit more… relaxing" He snapped his fingers and two cups and saucers, a bowl of sugar, some spoons and a teapot appeared out of nowhere._

 _Bill passed a cup and saucer to Stan and filled his cup for him. "Thanks" said Stanley smiling, he took a good sip from the cup. "This is living Bill and I must say you've gotten better at making objects appear at will, at least in my mind that is" Bill chuckled and took a sip from his cup. "You could say I've been practicing. Tea's not all I can conjure you know, got a request?" Stan rubbed his chin; there were a lot of random, unusual things he would like to see. "How about…. hmm… a miniature bear… driving a… toy car!" Bill snapped his fingers and pointed to a clear space on the living room floor. Poof! A miniature bear driving a toy car appeared. It drove all across the carpet and in between Stan's legs. He laughed as it crashed into the armchair and disappeared in a puff of smoke._

" _I can do extraordinary things with this power baby, much more bigger than the mini bear" said Bill. He snapped his fingers and a giant bowling pin appeared, smashing a hole in the roof of the first floor of the Mystery Shack, through the second and popped right out of the roof. Bits of wood and old timber came crashing down on Stan's head but he just shook it off and laughed._

" _Show me more!" he said, wiping away a tear from his eye. Bill snapped again and a baby Cyclops appeared. He snapped again and a flying eyeball replaced the Cyclops. Snapped once more and chains appeared on Stanley, strapping his legs together, his arms together and restraining his neck from moving in any direction._

 _Stan gasped for air and was shocked that Bill had done that. He fell off his yellow armchair and collapsed onto the carpet floor. "Ahahaha! My Gosh! It really does run in the family. First Sixers, then Pinetree and now you! Even Shooting star fell for it, they all have!" Bill laughed again and telepathically moved Stan over to one corner of the room still leaving him locked up in chains. "Man! Took me a while but I've finally taken over, there will be no stopping me!" he screamed._

" _Taken over? What does that mean? And shouldn't I be able to escape these chains, I mean it is my mind!" asked Stan, still struggling to escape the chains._

" _You see Old Man, I've been stuck in your mind for what, about three or four years? Anyway, I've been waiting patiently, everyday getting stronger and stronger till I was able to take over your mind, practically making you disabled in here! There's nothing you can do! Ahaha! Pain is hilarious and watching you struggle is even more funny!" Bill wiped a tear away from his one eye and laughed some more. "I just didn't know it would take me this long till I could take control of the wheel. Oh baby! Well it's finally paid off, eh?"_

 _Stan glared at him. "Don't you dare harm my niece and nephew!" he screamed._

" _Now why would I want to do that?" replied Bill sarcastically. He snapped his fingers and a gag tied up around Stan's mouth. "Ah, revenge is so sweet!"_

/

For the next couple of days Dipper stayed up in the attic. He didn't do anything, didn't say anything, didn't eat anything! He just lay curled up on his bed and moaned about Wendy. I mean sure, there was plenty of other people he missed and wanted to catch up with, but Wendy… well, she was Wendy! And the fact that no one had told him, the fact that she herself hadn't told him, it broke his heart.

Dipper could hear someone coming up the stairs. The door opened slightly and Mabel peered her head inside. "Hey Dipper" she said glumly, he didn't say anything. Mabel looked down at her feet "Duck-Tective's on downstairs, there's snacks and drinks if you want any" She waited for a reply but got nothing. She shut the door and walked back down to watch her show.

Somewhere inside his tiny mind, a voice spoke. _Dipper! Stop being a mope. Go enjoy_ _summer in Gravity Falls_ He told himself… but he didn't want to, he wanted Wendy. _Dipper! DIPPER!_ Screamed his conscience once more. He slowly sat himself up and stared out of the triangular window. He could see Soos giving the tourists a tour of the Mystery Shack, he saw Stan sitting down drinking Pitt cola, he even saw Robbie and Tambry hanging out in the car park! Everyone looked so happy… so why wasn't he? Dipper decided to socialise with his family and friends. For about a week he had completely shunned his sister! "Now I feel bad for ignoring her," he moaned to himself. He got dressed (for the first time in days!) and headed downstairs.

No one said a word as Dipper entered the living room and all eyes were on him as he sat down on the floor. Mabel was sitting in Stan's armchair with Waddles snuggled up next to her, Candy and Grenda were lying on the floor together and Soos's Abuelita was sitting on a chair at the table. They were all watching an episode of Duck-Tective. Mabel offered some popcorn to Dipper but he shook his head. "C'mon bro-bro, you haven't eaten anything in days! It's either this or I go get some of my smile dip" she said half threateningly, half jokingly. "OK! OK!" said Dipper as he grabbed a handful and shoved some in his mouth. Candy and Grenda, realising that Dipper was in the room with them, decided to properly greet him, as they never actually said "hello".

"So Dipper how is high school?" asked Candy, prodding his skinny arms. "Do you have a girlfriend yet?" asked Grenda in her deep, manly voice.

"Ooh, is she pretty?"

"Have you grown taller?"

"What's her name?"

"Are you still sweaty and awkward?"

"Have you kissed her yet?"

"Do you have facial hair?"

"Do you two hold hands?"

On and on it went, questions about high school, growing up and this somewhat _girlfriend_ Dipper had.

"Ok girls, fun's over," said Mabel, seeing her brother in agonising pain. "I think it's time we leave. C'mon ladies, let's take this to the attic!" she screamed. "To the attic!" said Candy and Grenda together, as they marched out of the living room up into the Twins' bedroom. Mabel went to go follow them up but before she did, she turned to her brother. "You ok bro-bro?" she asked with concern. "Yep, thanks Mabel for that save back their" he said with a smile. Mabel laughed and headed upstairs.

/

Dipper relaxed in Stan's armchair, he had just finished watching a couple of episodes of Duck-Tective that were on repeat.

"Dipper!" Ford burst into the living room, screaming his name. "AAAH! Great Uncle Ford don't do that! You made me spill my soda!" exclaimed Dipper, wiping the sticky drink off his shirt. "Sorry Dipper, but I have exci- Oh, how are you by the way? Everything alright with, um. What's her name again?" he asked. "Wendy, and yeah I'm feeling a lot better" he replied and he meant it. After a week of moaning he did really feel better, not to mention a few episodes of Duck-Tective really cleared his mind. "What were you saying?" asked Dipper. Ford looked puzzled, he had almost forgot "Oh right! You remember my old college friend Fiddleford McGucket?" he asked with a big smile. "Old Man McGucket?" questioned Dipper "He's still alive? Didn't he make like a bajillion dollars in less than 24 hours?"

"Yep" said Ford "I think he's now living in Preston's mansion, he's made _quite_ a lot of money" he said with astonishment. "You know I still feel bad for dragging him into all that portal business…" Ford's gaze drifted off and there was a long pause before either of them spoke.

"So… um, are we like going to go on a family visit or something" said Dipper, he felt weird after that pause and started scratching his arms awkwardly. Ford snapped back into reality "Oh yeah! Well I've been speaking to him recently and he says he needs someone to get rid of some pests. Probably happened during the events of Weirdmageddon he said and just hasn't had the time to get rid of them. I forgot what critters he mentioned specifically but it sounds like he's dealing with a lot here. Anyways I told him I'd be glad to come and be of assistance, how'd you like to come with?" Dipper shrugged his shoulders " Sure I guess, I mean the only the time I was in that mansion was so I could banish a category 10 so I never really got to get a good look around"

 _It also might help clear my mind off Wendy_ , he thought to himself.

"Excellent! We'll leave first thing tomorrow. Pack some extra pairs of underwear, I'm guessing we'll be staying a couple nights" said Ford with a big smile on his face.

/

Dipper had finished his lasagna way before anyone else. He wanted to get a good nights rest before leaving tomorrow. He had already packed his bag. In it he had all five journals, an extra pair of socks and underwear, a flashlight, toothbrush and toothpaste, a stick of deodorant, some of Mabel's gummy koalas, Stan's baseball bat and his sleeping bag and pillow.

"Mabel are you gonna be coming with Ford and I?" asked Dipper from across the table. "We'd love to have you with us, you're quite the package" added Ford. "Sorry boys but I've got a date with my girls. We're going shopping!" she squealed. Ford shrugged and ate more of his lasagna that Soos's Abuelita made. "So are you two gonna be like super rad Ghostbusters or something" asked Soos. "No Soos, Ghostbusters was last time. We're just going to be getting rid of some everyday critters. Wait Ford! You're sure it's just like raccoons or something?" asked Dipper with concern. "Uh, yeah… yeah I think so" even Ford was unsure about that.

Stan walked into the kitchen but by the way he walked you'd think he's got two left feet! He hobbled this way and that and walked straight into the fridge. He opened it up and grabbed a can of Pitt cola. "This is normal…" he said as he stalked out of the room. Dipper, Mabel, Ford and Soos all stared at each with a look of confusion. "Stanley!" yelled Ford from inside the kitchen "Is everything alright?" he asked "Oh don't worry about me oh brother O' mine" he yelled back from somewhere in the shack. Suddenly a loud _crash_ was heard and what sounded like someone falling down the stairs, soon followed by laughter. "Mr. Pines!" yelled Soos. "Grunkle Stan is that you?" asked Mabel. "Fear not Pines Family, I had only but dropped my refreshing beverage" All four of them in the kitchen were confused, weirded out and concerned for Stan. Ford grabbed Dipper, Mabel and Soos's plate and went to the sink to wash up. "Time for bed you two, especially you Dipper. Big day tomorrow" he said as he washed up all the dirty plates, cups and cutlery. "C'mon dudes" said Soos as he ushered them out of the kitchen.

As Mabel and Dipper walked up the stairs to their shared bedroom they noticed spilt soda on the steps that dripped down all the way to the bottom. Mabel stared at Dipper with a confused face "Let's just go to bed, ok?" he said. She nodded her head and they continued up the stairs.

"Goodnight Dipper" said Mabel as she turned off the light. "Night Mabel" he replied. "Goodnight Waddles" said Mabel to her pig. Waddles was asleep at the end of Mabel's bed. Dipper smiled and rolled onto his side. He was worried though about Stan. _Was he sick?_ He asked himself. _Is he going through a midlife crisis? Nope too old._ He could tell his sister was worried too but Mabel always tried to put a positive spin on everything.

"Goodnight Mabel" he said again but she was already asleep.


End file.
